Nearby Theaters

Located in the northeast London district of Walthamstow. On this site was an earlier cinema – Prince’s Pavilion which opened in 1909 and was rebuilt to seat 1,000 in 1912, it closed 24th May 1930 and was demolished (one wall survives today, located at the rear of the Dominion Cinema, with faded paint still showing from the former interior of the Prince’s Pavilion).

The Dominion Cinema was opened on 22nd December 1930 with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in “Little Accident” and Lupe Velez in “The Storm”. It was designed by Frank Ernest Bromige while he was working for the Clifford Aish practice. The Dominion Cinema was Bromige’s first solo work as an architect and his final project under Aish.

Seating was provided in a stadium plan with a raised section at the rear which didn’t overhang the rear stalls area. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer 3Manual/10Ranks organ, which was opened by organist Rex O'Grady.

It was taken over by Associated British Cinemas (ABC) in April 1931 and they operated it until 15th March 1958 when it closed for film use. It became a venue for wrestling for a few months and then re-opened as a cinema again on 6th October 1958 screening Danny Kaye in “Merry Andrew”. It finally closed as a cinema on 4th March 1961 screening Claude Dauphin in “The Full Treatment” and Peter Reynolds in “The Breaking Point”.

It was converted into a Mecca Bingo Club, latterly operated by Jasmine which was closed in August 1996.

Plans were going ahead to convert it into a nightclub, but these fell through and the building remains boarded up and unused in 2015.

Why bother ripping stuff out if you’re not going to use the building? At least let it sit in its original, unspoiled state until you’ve decided what to do with it, or sell it on and let the new owners decide.

Empty since 1996 and now in a parlous state, see above. The freehold for some years belonged to an American property company but I passed the building recently and it has now been adorned with an “Acquired for redevelopment by….” billboard so it has presumably been sold and demolition might be imminent. Not quite in a prime location, but does offer a good view of the adjacent Lidl and car park.